Chennai: A Singapore bound Air India flight, set to depart on Thursday afternoon, returned to the parking bay after one of its engines was detected to be faulty. The airline’s engineers, who worked for more than three hours on the AI-346, an ultra modern Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with 250 passengers and six crew members on board, found that additional spare parts were needed. An Air India official said that the spare parts were currently being sourced from Delhi and Mumbai.

“Passengers, depending on their urgency to make the trip, will be put on other flights," the official said. Others were accommodated at hotels for the night and will depart on Friday. The passengers were offloaded at around 3.30 pm and given refreshments. Businessman Mohammad Rasheed, 38, of Chennai, said he had booked himself on the flight, considering it was one of the latest in luxury aircraft, and been surprised to find it had developed a snag.